Intel quad-core Kentsfield to be named Core 2 Quadro, first model expected in November

Intel is expected by the end of this month to officially name its Kentsfield quad-core desktop processor as the „Core 2 Quadro,“ with the first model to be an Extreme version, the Core 2 Extreme QX6700, which will be available starting in mid-November, according to sources at leading Taiwan motherboard makers.

The QX6700, which will be clocked at 2.66 GHz, will target the high-end gaming market as well as to counter AMD’s fourth quarter introduction of its Socket-AM2 Athlon 64 FX-64 CPU (3.0 GHz core speed, 2x1MB L2 cache), the sources noted.

Additionally, Intel will launch a new 65nm quad-core CPU, the Core 2 Quadro Q6600, in the first quarter of 2007, ahead of AMD’s planned launch of server-use quad-core Deerhound in 2007 and desktop quad-core Greyhound in 2008, said the sources.

The quad-core CPUs can be paired with either Intel’s high-end 975X or mainstream P965 chipsets, although a minor change in the design of the power-supply module on P965-based motherboards is required, the sources pointed out.

Intel Taiwan declined to comment on products that have not been released.